The fourth Bitcoin halving may be considered to be the most memorable, as industry experts believe this event was unlike any other.
Bitcoin miners, in particular, were pleasantly surprised, as the recent halving sent BTC transaction fees soaring to record levels.
As a result, Bitcoin miners saw an impressive amount in total revenue. According to YCharts, miners took in a record $107.8 million on the day of the halving.
This came as a shock, as the halving was supposed to create a steep cut in revenue for crypto miners since rewards for new data blocks dropped by 50% during the event.
Runes Protocol Increases BTC Transaction Fees
Yet the launch of Casey Rodarmor’s new Runes protocol – which took place the same day as the Bitcoin halving – proved so popular that it created network congestion, along with unusually high transaction fees.
To put this in perspective, Bitcoin transaction fees averaged a record $127.97 on April 20, 2024.
While this might have been frustrating for users sending transactions across the Bitcoin network, miners reaped the benefits.
Fun fact:
The first 77 blocks of epoch 5 have generated $75,000,000 in miner revenue
For reference, the final 77 blocks of epoch 4 generated just $35,000,000
The halving? More like the doubling.#Bitcoin miners are absolutely eating right now.
— Baylor Landry (@baylorlandry) April 20, 2024
Jamie McAvity, CEO of Texas-based Bitcoin mining company Cormint, told Cryptonews that the most important post-halving event has been that hashrate has not dropped at all.
“This was due to high fees being paid by Runes transactions,” McAvity said. “It’s a great sign of bullish activity going forward for this Bitcoin-native asset issuance technology.”
Why Miners Are Bullish on Runes
McAvity elaborated that there was a race to get transactions included in the newly launched Rune protocol, which launched at the halving block.
“Bitcoin mining pool ViaBTC found halving block number 840,000,” he said. “Data shows that 37.7 BTC in fees were paid in that block due to Runes.”
McAvity further explained that transaction fees associated with Runes are much higher than typical BTC transaction fees.
“Casey Rodarmor, the developer of Runes, set the minimum fee transaction for Runes protocol at 100 satoshi/Byte. This is an increase in what minimum BTC transactions typically are,” he said.
McAvity pointed out that ViaBTC currently has a good portion of the mining hashrate (around 15%). Yet he noted that transaction fees have varied widely since the halving, from block to block and certain pools.
82% of wallets that hold bitcoin cannot move right now due to high fees. https://t.co/wWo9FY2QPb pic.twitter.com/0vKgf9G7RG
— Hector Lopez (@hlopez_) April 20, 2024
For instance, ViaBTC has outperformed other pools in terms of fees earned. The method of sharing transaction fees with miners varies between mining pools.
“Cormint’s revenue on the day following the halving was approximately 2 times what it was on the day prior,” McAvity remarked.
Rena Shah, VP of Products at Trust Machines – a team focused on growing the Bitcoin economy – told Cryptonews that since April 20 (the day of the halving) miners had generated over $100 million in rewards, with around $80 million just from transaction fees alone.
“Runes, along with all the activity happening in the Bitcoin economy is creating new incentives for miners just as mining rewards have decreased again from the halving,” said Shah.
This appears to be the case. Joe Downie, CMO at Bitcoin mining pool NiceHash, told Cryptonews that the Runes Protocol came as quite a surprise for many, but it certainly gave a boost to miners.
“Runes increase the amount of transaction fees that miners get in addition to a block reward,” said Downie.
Are Runes Spam Transactions?
While it’s notable that Runes have boosted the Bitcoin mining industry for the time being, ecosystem participants remain aware of challenges associated with the protocol.
Luke Dashjr, Co-founder of non-custodial Bitcoin mining pool OCEAN, told Cryptonews that while Runes are somewhat compatible with Bitcoin, there are a number of issues.
“The biggest…
Read More: Runes Protocol Helps Sustain Bitcoin Mining Industry, But There’s A Catch